Determinants of Tissue Culture Technology Adoption in Banana Cultivation: Evidence from Chitwan District, Nepal

Banana production in Nepal faces persistent challenges, including susceptibility to disease, low yields, and reliance on inferior planting materials. Tissue culture (TC) technology offers a potential solution; however, its adoption remains limited due to constraints such as inadequate access to credit, low awareness, poor infrastructure, small farm sizes, risk aversion, inconsistent availability of complementary inputs and the absence of government subsidies. These constraints reduce productivity, limit farm profitability, and slow the diffusion of improved planting technologies. Considering these challenges, this study was conducted to examine the determinants influencing the adoption of tissue culture technology in banana cultivation in the Chitwan district of Nepal. Primary data were obtained from 75 randomly selected farmers (35 adopters and 40 non-adopters) from Ratnanagar and Kalika municipalities through a semi-structured questionnaire. A binary logistic regression model was employed to identify the key factors affecting adoption decisions. The results indicated that formal education, years of banana farming experience, and duration of awareness of tissue culture technology significantly increased the likelihood of adoption (p